Individual differences - AB Flashcards
What is the definition of human universals?
What is generally true of human nature
What is the definition of individual differences?
How groups of people differ
What is the scientific definition of personality?
Tendency to show consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions - McCrae and Costa, 1990, p.23.
What is the scientific definition of traits?
An individuals characteristic pattern of thought, emotion and behaviour, together with the psychological mechanisms - hidden or not - behind those patters - Funder, 1997; pp. 102
What three groups of traits did Allport classify?
Cardinal, central and secondary.
What is factor analysis?
A way of reducing data and making it more manageable.
Who developed the 16 personality factor?
Cattell and Eber, 1962
What are the five factors of the Five Factor Model (Big 5)?
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
What is meant by Openness to Experience?
Receptiveness to new things, ideas and change.
What is meant by Conscientiousness?
Degree of self discipline and control, motivation in goal directed behaviour.
Often described as “will to acheive”
What is meant by Extraversion?
Sociability, quantity and intensity of inter-personal relationships and interactions.
What is meant by Agreeableness?
Quality of social interaction.
What is meant by Neuroticism
Emotional stability and personal adjustment
Give examples of evidence for the Big 5
Fits well with other measures of personality.
Predictive utility
Heritability studies
Cross cultural agreement
Why are trait theories useful?
They enable us to quantify, and therefore measure personality.
What are some limitations of trait theory?
How many factors should be included?
Correlational
Descriptive rather than explanatory
Stability over time and context?
What two other traits are added to the Big 5 by Almagor et al (1995) to make the Big 7?
Positive and negative valence.
ie do you see yourself positively or negatively?
What are the trats listed in the HEXACO model? (Ashton and Lee, 2005)
Honesty-humility
Emotionality
eXtraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Openness to experience
What are the ‘Big 2’ traits in Digmans 1997 theory?
Alpha - emotional stability, agreeableness and conscientiousness
Beta - Extraversion and Openness
DeYoung et al’s 2006 theory focuses on what?
Stability and plasticity
Musek (2007) theory is the Big 1 - what is this ‘general factor of personality’?
A combination of Stability and Plasticity.
Hans Eyesncks biological theory is also known as the PEN model, what does PEN stand for?
Psychoticism
Extraversion
Neuroticism
PEN stands for Psychoticism, Extraversion and Neuroticism - what is the opposite of each of these traits?
P = Control
E = Introversion
N = Stability
What are the biological/genetic basis for the PEN traits?
Psychoticism - associated with testosterone levels
E - is based on cortical arousal (EEG)
N - Level of reactivity in limbic system/amygdala
Who has performed studies which support Eyesncks theory?
Shields (1976) - monozygotic vs dizygotic twins.
Mitchell & Kumari 2016
Does the PEN model address limlitations of Trait Approach
Identifies biological variables and causal explanations. Arousal can be measured objectively.
Trait theories emphasise… what?
Trait theories emphasise consistency
Social Cognitive Theories emphasise… what?
Social Cognitive Theories emphasise agency and role of context
What are the three types of environment, and what do each of them mean?
Imposed - put up with it whether like it or not; but can control how construe and react to it.
Selected - associates, activities etc which we select by our life choices and behaviours
Constructed: through generative effort, how we socially construct environment through our perception of the world and associated actions.
Walter Mischel (1930-2018) found that behaviour is … what?
Behaviour is situational - it varies as we interact with the world.
List some of the key differences between trait and social cognitive models?
Trait; Trait driven, consistent predisposition, stable, factor analysis.
Social cognitive; expectant & agentic, situationally variable, dynamic, theory/experiments
What type of approach do most now subscribe to?
Interactionist - both internal traits and situations interact in producing behaviour.
What is the hard plaster hypothesis?
McCrae et al, 2000
Agree that personality stabilises at age 30
Remains stable in cognitively intact individuals
What is the soft plaster hypothesis?
Caspi and Roberts (2001)
Plateau in personality may not be reached until age 50… but change slows after 30.
What changes across the lifespan did McCrae et al (2000) observe from ages 18-30?
Decline in N, E and O.
Increase in A and C.
These early adulthood changes due to biological maturation only - not as a result of circumstances or situations.
Hard plaster.
Caspi and Roberts (2001) found what?
Large environmental shifts can influence change
What is the average IQ score?
100
Spearmans g: what is ‘g’?
General intelligence underlying performance. g determines how well we use ability/knowledge.
Thurstones multi-factorial model suggested g comprised of 7 primary mental abilities, what were these?
Associative memory, mathematical, perceptual speed, reasoning, visual-spatial, verbal; comprehension, word fluency.
What two factors made up Cattells theory, and what is the difference between the two?
Fluid intelligence (gf): primary ability to learn, deal with novel information irrespective of previous experience.
Crystallised intelligence (gc): knowledge and skills arising from acculturative learning (Acquired and may increase over lifespan)
The Weschler intelligence scale gives scores for what 3 kinds of intelligence?
Verbal IQ, Performance IQ and Full scale IQ.
What does WAIS stand for?
Wechsler adult intelligence scale
What do the following stand for; VIQ, PIQ and FSIQ?
Verbal IQ, Performance IQ and Full Scale IQ.
What does WASI and WISC stand for?
Wechsler abbreviated scale intelligence, wechsler intelligence scale for children.
What are the advantages to the Wechsler scale?
Quantification, predictive utility, identity differences.
Why were the Ravens Progressive Measures made?
To respond and deal with issues of cultural variations.
What are three examples of ‘multiple intelligences’?
Biology, formative relationships, cultural backgrounds.
What are ‘hot intelligences’?
Non-cognitive abilities, especially those used in everyday life eg social skills.
Contrast with ‘cold’ analytical abilities eg maths.
What are the three parts to ‘successful intelligence’ (according to Robert Sternberg)?
Componential, experiential and practical.
What is analytical/componential intelligence?
Typical idea of intelligence, information processing, measured by traditional tests.
What is creative/experiential intelligence?
How well a task is performed; novelty and automation. Measured by creativity tests.
What is practical/contextual intelligence?
Ability to use knowledge and experience to interact with the world. Measured by response to vignettes of practical everyday situations.
What is the difference between nature and nurture?
Nature is the idea that behaviour is based on genetics, nurture is the idea that behaviour is based on the environment a person has grown up in.
What do most psychologists believe in regards to the nature/nurture debate?
Most agree that individual differences develop as a result of interaction. The disagreement is from the relative contribution.
What is heritability coefficient? (Relative to twin studies)
Proportion of shared variance between individuals. (Between 0-1)
Why is it a good idea to study twins and adoptees?
It allows us to seperate the two factors.
What does concordance mean?
The degree to which they are similar.
Who studied twin concordance rates of the big 5 in twins of different cultures?
Jang et al (2002)
Does living in the same environment equal shared experiences?
No - even when twins live together everyones perception is unique.
What are the limitations of twin studies?
- Twins aren’t representative of the general population.
- Unshared environment.
- Some genes may not have 100% penetrance.
- Trait/characteristic may be polygenic (caused by more than one gene)
What are some examples of Social Influences and Controversies?
- Assortative mating
- Family size and Birth order
- Social class
- Bell curve controversy
- Flynn effect
What are the three theories as to why birth order affects individual characteristics?
- Admixture: Lower SES and IQ tend to have more children
- Resource dilution; the more children, the less resources.
- Confluence: Older chilren tend too teach younger children, whilst they learnt from adults.
